Welcome from the DirectorMy name is Dr. Patrick Pagano, Director of the Graduate Program, and I would like to take the opportunity to welcome you to the Molecular Pharmacology Graduate Training Program. This is an exciting time to be a pharmacologist, and an exciting time to join the Molecular Pharmacology Graduate Program.

Pharmacology is the study of the mechanism of drug action. The discipline resides at the important interface between the basic sciences that investigate the cellular and molecular biology of mammalian physiology on the one hand, and the development of clinically effective approaches to treating disease on the other. The modern molecular and genetic approaches that are being incorporated into this discipline, combined with remarkable advances in the emerging science of drug discovery promise a new era of therapeutics that will see the development of effective and more specific medicines based on a rational understanding of biomedical science. As pharmacologists, you will lead the way into this new era aided by the training that can be gained in our program.

The Molecular Pharmacology Graduate Program offers didactic and research training in most of the fundamental aspects of this discipline. The course work in the program will educate students in the key principles of the discipline of pharmacology, as well as providing an overview of the most important clinically relevant drugs. The discipline-specific training is augmented by additional course work that can be chosen from biochemistry, molecular genetics, immunology, cell biology, physiology and neuroscience. We also continue to develop new courses so that students stay abreast of recent developments relevant to current research problems as well as to careers in pharmacology, such as the recently introduced lectures on drug discovery in our Molecular Pharmacology course. The quality of the education offered by the Program is reflected in the recent renewal of the NIH funded training grant, which is now in its 17th year.

The Program also offers an outstanding research environment, and is currently ranked 6th nationally in NIH funding of pharmacology departments. The research of our training faculty focuses on various topics including drug discovery, cancer pharmacology, neuropharmacology, signal transduction, and cell & organ system pharmacology. The expectation is that many of the studies carried out by the faculty will facilitate the development of drugs designed to combat diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease.

The Molecular Pharmacology Graduate Program is committed to providing an outstanding educational experience in an exceptional research environment. We also realize that graduates from this program will have a broad range of career options, and it is a goal of the program to provide support and education to optimally prepare students to enter the professional work force.